


Innocence: Book One

by shessolovely



Series: The Innocence Trilogy [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Blood and Violence, Cults, F/M, There's kind of a weird plot, Trilogy, again there's a weird plot but it'll make sense later, im so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-07-14 04:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7153097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shessolovely/pseuds/shessolovely
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Genevieve, or Eva, Cavenaugh is utterly, and in her eyes, unfortunately, one of the most normal people you will ever meet. She goes to school, is a part of clubs, watches TV, all that junk. But when she's hit by a car, something totally not normal happens to her. Her body disappears, and she's thrown into the Avatarverse - in the South Pole. And guess who she's picked up by.</p><p>You got it. Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. </p><p>When he finds the Avatar, Eva is tossed in between traveling with Aang and continuously running into Zuko. She's got several questions running through her mind, like...</p><p>"Does this guy ever learn to give up?"</p><p>"Who are the Sisterhood, and what about Black Widow?"</p><p>But the most important question to her is:</p><p>"How am I gonna get home?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

okay, okay, alright, okay, okay.

If you don't already know me, hi! I'm shessolovely- I'm just a girl who daydreams far too often and usually has great ideas for stories but never actually writes them down. I'm in a shit ton of fandoms, and I try to write when I can! (If you ever want me to help with anything, or proofread anything, or just say hi, feel free to comment on anything or message me! Anyway, here are just a few things I'd like to point out. 

INSPIRATION: Okay, I mainly got my inspiration from the show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, itself, and the theories based around it. I liked the fact that it was a real war, and that there were real prisoners of war and casualties and that no one sugarcoated anything. It showed that even though there was a deadly, not to mention devastating, war, people still held onto hope when there were people that proved to make a difference. I did write a different fanfiction for this fandom a few months ago, maybe even a year ago on my Wattpad account, I don't remember, but it was just so shit that I was literally disgusted at myself. I had actually written that garbage, put time and thought into it. What the hell was I thinking? So I deleted it. 

Now, my main character is supposed to be based a little bit off of me. No, not like, "Oh, she's got (insert hair color) and (insert eye color) like me and the same body shape as me!" but more like her strengths in some stuff differs from mine and how some of it is similar to mine. Like, my character and I both suck at math. Let's be real here, who doesn't understand math the first couple of times they try it out? But she is more of a quick learner than I am. Either way, the lead character shares some qualities that I'm sure most of you will find relatable. Genevieve (that's her name) is meant to be a regular high school student who gets tossed into a world that is really not her own. She's lost and alone and just really afraid, whether she shows it or not. Also (SPOILERS, I'm SORRY) what she's meant to be like in the rest of the book is based off of her experiences with the Sisterhood and her mental and physical reactions to it. 

ALSO I GOT SOME OF MY INSPIRATION FROM MELANIE MARTINEZ'S SONGS (Seriously. They're amazing.) as well as a crapload of other stuff.

UPDATES/LENGTH: I don't actually know how long this book is going to be. I'm taking my time writing the chapters, editing out mistakes, filling plot holes, cleaning any messes, etc. I do update whenever I can, though, because writing is important to me. It's a part of who I am, y'know? But, I am also crazy busy, because believe it or not, I do have a life. I have school and clubs and extracurricular activities and sometimes it just gets hard. 

RATING/PG-NESS: Er... lots of swearing in this book. Also, this book deals with stuff a lot of people consider disturbing. If you don't like graphic violence or graphicness at all, don't read this or skip over it. I promise, not all of this book is full of graphic stuff. It deals with murder, betrayal, war, death, PTSD and other things.

SEQUEL??: YES! There will be a sequel to this book. I'm planning on making this a trilogy, actually, AND maybe even a seperate book with crossovers, though that is something I do when I have ideas I need to write down. (And I'm gonna be real, that's probably not gonna happen.) This is Innocence: Book One. The next will be Betrayal: Book Two. The third will be Acceptance: Book Three. The next two books will deal with the original plotline of A:TLA, but with Genevieve's problems too..

PAIRINGS??: So this is a Zuko/OC book. NOT THIS BOOK SPECIFICALLY, BUT THE TRILOGY ITSELF. There will be the ships that the show permitted, following each season: for example, Book One holds SokkaxYue when they reach the Northern Water Tribe. Then when Yue dies (D:) and Sokka's sort of moving on. There's Sukka (SukixSokka) and stuff like that. Kataang. No Zutara. I can't handle Zutara. Sry m8.

I swear to God I didn't mean for this to be a Zuko/OC book? Like it just happened when I was coming up with the plotline at 2am?

DISCLAIMER!!!: I DO NOT OWN AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, OR BLACK WIDOW. I mentioned this in the summary, but I'm going to say it again. Black Widow is the property of Marvel Studios. Avatar belongs to Mike and Bryan. I own my lead character, Genevieve Cavenaugh, and her personal enemy, the Sisterhood. I also only own the minor characters that are seen here and there within the story. That's it.

Thanks for clicking on my story. Read on.

Your Author,

~shessolovely


	2. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YAAAY MY ACTUAL FIRST CHAPTER which is really a prologue but fuck it

_IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GOTTA GET DOWN ON-_

**SLAM!**

My hand slumped down from the alarm clock and I groaned. 'School,' I thought, shoving my face into my pillow. 'I hate you for making me wake up this early. I hate you and all your shitty morning bird teachers.' But I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed. If I didn't my mom would just storm up the stairs and yell at me about what time it was.

Hmph. As if I don't know. I have Rebecca Black and her shitty-ass song to remind me every friggin' day. Actually, I should change my alarm...

"EVA, ARE YOU UP?" Perfect. Just on time. (Can you see the sarcasm, reader?)

"Yeah," I called back.

"GENEVIEVE AMELIA CAVENAUGH, YOU BETTER BE AWAKE! IT'S SIX THIRTY!" Jesus Christ, is everyone here deaf? Can they not hear my angry stomping towards my closet? I threw open my door and yelled down the hall, "I'm up, I'm up! Jeez..." Honestly. It's too early in the morning for this crap.

Later, I was downstairs in the kitchen placing my frozen waffle in the toaster, but I wasn't going to coat it with maple syrup, oh no- I was going to straight up smother this thing in Nutella. It might sound a bit unhealthy to you, but screw unhealthy, okay? I haven't been eating breakfast all that much this whole year, and with finals coming up, my parents really expected me to keep my grades in tip-top shape. Mostly my math grades. Mainly because I sucked ass at Algebra 1 and couldn't really tell the difference between a slope and the hypotenuse of a triangle. Whatever that actually means.

_Ding!_ My waffle popped up from the slot in the toaster, and my dad looked up from his work laptop. "That's unusual," he commented. "What, that I have a stomach?" I shot back while spreading Nutella onto my waffle. Dad frowned. "No," he told me. "You haven't been eating much for breakfast all year. I'm surprised you decided to now." Um, hello? Did the man forget what he had been nagging me about for _weeks_ now? "Did you forget about finals? And that you've been constantly telling me to not sleep during my classes because it's vital to my existence that I get a passing score on all of these tests?" I rolled my eyes, snapping a banana off its bunch. "I never said it was vital to your existence," Dad protested. "You might as well have."

"Eva, you forgot your lunch money in your room." My mom put the ten dollar bill on the counter next to my bag. She wrinkled her nose at my breakfast, which I was happily biting into. "Oh, honey, Nutella? Really?"

"You're lucky I'm eating bananas with it," I told her, my mouth full.

"Just remember to brush your teeth after this. And your Fall Out Boy t-shirt? Again? You wore that to school yesterday!"

"Washing machines exist, you know." Mom sighed, exasperated. "How could I not, I'm the one that does most of the laundry around here." Dad looked up. "I did it once!"

"Putting the clothes in the machine and not washing them does not count. Especially if they were whites and colors. Mixed."

"So what? I still did it!" I left them to their arguing as I went upstairs to brush my teeth, and when I came back down, my mom was shoving the money in my wallet. "Eva, are you walking to school today?" I shouldered my bag and Mom handed my wallet to me. "No, Marie and her mom are picking me up today." As if on cue, a car horn was heard from outside, followed by, "EVA, GET YOUR BUTT OUTSIDE!"

"Have a good day at school, sweetie!" Mom called after me.

"Like that's possible!" I reached Marie's car and slid into the backseat with her. "Good morning, Eva," Marie's mom greeted me. "Morning, Mrs. Brown." I turned to Marie. "Did you study for the World History test?" Marie nodded. "Did you?" She asked. "Yeah, I did." I paused for a moment. "You'd have thought History would have been easier." Marie looked at me, eyes wide. "What, are you kidding? This is high school, Eva."

"Well, hey, it's not my fault that U.S. History was easier in junior high." I argued. "Oh, and you have a part that you missed for your braid." Marie let out something under her breath that sounded like, "Damn hair, always messing me up in the mornings..." I shook my head, pulling my phone out of my bag, checking the battery life on it. 100%. Hm. Better than usual. "Okay, is it better?"

I looked up to face Marie, and checked out her French braid. Marie was one of the more pretty freshmen at school, with brown hair, a figure that cheerleaders would kill for or kill her _for it_ because she looks just as pretty as them, and long eyelashes to frame her big brown eyes. Whereas me, I had blond hair that I had dyed red a week ago when I had gotten bored, so now there were only red streaks in my hair, blue eyes, and I was short. Not stumpy, though. I like to think that I'm somewhere in between stick thin and fat. "Yeah, it's better." Marie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

We pulled up in front of the school, and hopped out of the car. "Wanna head to Danny's for smoothies after school today?" Marie asked me as we walked up the stairs to the school. I pursed my lips."Maybe." We stopped in front of the open doors. "I'll let you know later."

"Okay!" Marie chirped. "See you after school!" She ran off to her locker. I sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, and moved through the crowd of students to get to my first period class. Which was what again? I frowned as I checked my schedule. Of course. It had to be Algebra 1, didn't it? _'This sucks,'_ I thought. _'I wish I could be somewhere else but here.'_ I shuffled through the open door to Room 145 and slumped down into my desk, yawning. I lay my head down on the polished dark wood and watched as more people entered the room. I could feel my eyes slowly closing... The room was warm, and Mr. Winter wasn't here yet, which meant no stupid teacher jokes and not seeing that stupid blue bowtie with polka dots on it. Bowties are cool though. (Wink wink nudge nudge) Just not his bowtie. I sighed, and turned my head over, the warmth of the room slowly lulling me to the dark side...

_"Goooooooooood morning Washington High!"_

Well, fuck. There goes my chance for more sleep. "God, I _hate_ morning announcements." I heard one boy groan. "Principal Wecker's too cheery in the morning," another girl agreed.

_"As you know, students, finals week is coming up, so I strongly encourage all of you to study as hard as you can. But before we get into that, I have some other important announcements to make!"_

"I heard he's doing the _'it's your teacher's birthday so I expect all of you to be extra nice to them today'_ thing," someone said. As if on cue, Wecker's voice was heard again, crackling on the loudspeaker. _"Today is Mrs. Rigney and Mr. Barker's birthday! Make sure to wish them a good day, and participate in your classes!"_ Honestly, Mr. Wecker was a pretty good principal, but was too overexcited about some stuff. I don't think he realizes he's not 25 anymore. "Aaaand there it is," I mumbled. The next ten minutes were filled with the American Pledge of Allegiance and other "important bulletins." He even said that he _"hopped out the mother-father Chevy this morning"_ and that he needed to _"whip"_ out some papers to check the student list.

Yeah. You know where that came from.

I hate this school.

<><><>

I finished off my smoothie and laughed along with Marie and Claire as our friend Jason made fun of his teacher. I picked up my bag and threw the empty cup away as I checked Marie's phone for the time. "Well, I have to go, guys, so I'll see you tomorrow," I told them, heading for the door.

"Are you sure? My mom can give us a ride back," Marie offered. I waved it off.

"Nah, I'm alright. I live only a few blocks from here anyway, so I'll walk. Besides, I have that big-ass final project for English that I should get started on anyway."

"You sure?" Claire asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. See you!" They murmured their goodbyes then went back to listening to Jason's story. I walked down the busy street, my mind wandering as I trudged home from the school day. I really did wish I didn't have to go sometimes- it got so boring I just really wanted to be somewhere else. I watched as the light turned gree, and looked down at my feet, watching my red Converse tap against the deep grey cement. Suddenly, I heard a _"WATCH OUT!"_ and looked up in surprise as a car was swerving down the busy road.

Headed for me.

Paralyzed with fear, I could only hold up my arms and look away as it slammed into my legs and torso, sending me flying into the busy intersection. I groaned as I hit the street, my head banging against something hard and the pain screamed up and down my body. I could only open my eyes slightly to see someone running towards me. Everything was blurry and way too loud, thought I could hear the cars screech to a stop, doors slamming and a whole bunch of _"Oh my god!"_ s and _"Is she okay?"_ s and _"Is she breathing? Dial 911!"_ s.

Before I could realize, someone had crouched in front of me. "What's your name, kid?"

"Gen...evieve... Caven...augh..." I croaked out, coughing. I heard something splatter onto the road and my eyes felt too heavy to hold up anymore. "Hey, no, Genevieve, stay with me! Someone call an ambulance!" I let out a sigh as the world faded into black.


	3. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I haven't updated in like four months but hey at least i got some hits

"Your Highness?"

  
Zuko closed his eyes in irritation. "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" He snapped, slamming his hands on the various scrolls and maps littered about the table.

  
"We found something you might want to see, sir." Zuko opened his eyes once more, heart pounding in his chest. "Is it the Avatar? Have we found him?"

  
"Truth be told, we're not sure, Your Highness," the soldier admitted. "But they way she's dressed... It could be an Air Nomad, for all we know."

  
Zuko's eyes widened as he turned around, staring at the fidgeting soldier in disbelief. "A girl?" A million thoughts and questions ran through his mind, but only one stood out. _'I can finally go home.'_ "Where is she?"

  
"Up on deck, sir."

  
Zuko moved out of the room, shoving the young man out of the way, who shook it off and followed him up.  "Does my uncle know of this?" Zuko barked.

  
"Not yet, sire. We decided it was of the utmost importance to notify _you_ first."

  
"Get my uncle. _Now_." Zuko sneered as they reached the floors of the deck. His men huddled around a small body, staring at it. One of them prodded it with his boot. "All of you, out of my way!" Zuko snarled. They all hurriedly shuffled to make way for the prince, and Zuko's footsteps echoed on the metal. He observed the girl. She was evidently freezing, as she kept shivering in her sleep, body shaking. She was young- maybe fourteen or fifteen. _What business does a girl that young have in the middle of the ocean?_

  
"I've never seen such light hair before," one soldier muttered. "None of us have," another snorted. "Look at it. The color of sunflowers. That has to be a mutation of some kind."

"You think she's from the Spirit World?"

  
"Quit your talking!" Zuko barked, and they quieted immediately, heads bowed obediently.

"Well, Prince Zuko." He heard an old, scratchy voice come from behind him, as well as light footsteps. "You certainly know how to begin a commotion. I was just about to retire to my study for a nice cup of calming chamomile tea." Zuko turned to see his uncle, Iroh, standing behind him, eyes twinkling with humor. His lip curled into a snarl as he pointed behind him. "This is what I'm causing a commotion about."

Iroh raised an eyebrow. "A fourteen year old girl?"

"She could be the Avatar!"

"You mustn't raise your hopes," Iroh warned. "This may not be who you think it is. Things are not always what they seem to be."

"This could be my chance, the one I've been looking for! This could finally be the end of this ridiculous search." Zuko's anger flared, but he knew Iroh could be right. There was a possibility she was just a girl. Nothing special. So what was to happen if she wasn't the Avatar?

 

"She could be a traveler who was looking for the Southern Water Tribe." Iroh pointed out. 

"We're in the middle of the ocean, for Spirits' sake," Zuko stretched his arms out, exasperated. "What business does a fourteen year old girl have in the middle of the ocean?"

"If I may, General Iroh," the ship's lieutenant, Jee, interrupted gently. "There was no evidence of a canoe crashing. She was found on an ice block half frozen. Her pulse is still faint- she is in critical condition."

"Then we must get her to a healer." Iroh looked pointedly at his nephew. "If you wish to interrogate this girl you must have her awake and aware of where she is and what is happening. We must get her to normal health."

Zuko scowled, turning to his men, who stood at attention. "Alert the ship's healer. I don't give a damn what you do, just get her off my deck." He stopped. "Now!"

They busied themselves with their orders, and one handed Zuko a brown bag. "Sir, this was found on her person."

"Then it is evidence and you have no business muddling around with it," Zuko snapped. The soldier bowed. "Yes, sire."

He opened the bag, examining its contents- three large rectangular objects with parchment in them, one smaller rectangular object, a white rope of sorts with two circles at its end, and a portrait of some kind. Zuko stared at the portrait for a moment, wondering how they were so clear and in detail, and realized that there were _two_ of them. One was of two teenagers, one of which he recognized to be the girl on his ship, and another young woman with brown hair. They were laughing, eyes scrunched shut and mouths open, one arm wrapped around the other's shoulder. The second picture was of three people, the same girl with two people whom Zuko assumed were her parents. Gritting his teeth, he shoved the photos back in the bag and thrust it at his uncle, who caught it before it fell out his reach.

  
"Let me know when she wakes," he growled. "We have questions we need answers to." He stalked off the deck, leaving Iroh to ponder over the girl's appearance.

<><><>

_'Shit, my stomach hurts like shit...'_

That's one way to start my morning.

I pried my eyes open, and realized I was still breathing. Which meant I was alive. Which meant not dead. Obviously.

Now to assess the damage.

I could smell herbs and a weird sort of aroma, one I recognized but couldn't seem to place. Strange. Wasn't a hospital supposed to smell like flouride and plastic and hand sanitizer? I peered down at my arm. "Where's the IV?" I muttered. And the patient name and number tag on my wrist?

Where _was_ I?

 

I peeked up, only to be greeted with a large red banner with a black flame on it.

My stomach dropped.

"Hello, young lady." I jumped and looked up, seeing an older man stare back down at me. "Er..." I began. "Um, hi?"

Ah, yes. Great start.

He walked around my bed, placing a cup of something down onto the wooden table. I watched him crush leaves and sprinkle them into the cup, and crinkled my nose at its scent, suddenly feeling like I was about to puke. Noticing my coughing and probably seeing the weird faces I was making struggling to keep down the bile that rose in my throat, the man, who I assumed was the healer, handed me a pot. "It's better if you let it out."

I'm going to spare you the kind of gross details because really, I don't think it's necessary to describe what came out of my mouth. I wiped my lips and found a cup shoved in my face. "Drink this," the healer told me. "It'll help with both the fever and your stomach." So I drank it.

It didn't taste like a smoothie if that's what you're wondering. I coughed, gagging, and somehow found myself asking the man's name. "I am Raki, the ship's healer." He smiled down at me. "But I believe you inferred that yourself." I nodded.

"So what do I do now?" I asked.

Raki shook his head. "Nothing. You rest."

"Can I go outside?"

He stroked his beard. "Fresh air may help a bit. But you need to get into something warmer." I looked down at my skinny jeans and T-shirt, realizing they probably weren't the most ideal pieces of clothing. "Well, do you have a coat or something? My clothes are dry," I told him.

"I may have a robe your size that will keep you warm," Raki admitted. I smiled a bit. "Thank you."

I sat up, and gently let my legs fall off the bed. "You're going to walk?" Raki stopped me, a warning look in his eyes. "You need to take it easy- if you try to go too fast, you may be sick again." I grimaced, but stood up, spots dancing in my eyes, gripping the table. "How else am I going to get better? I need to at least try."

Which is when I found myself retching into the pot again.

"Okay," I muttered, gagging again. "Maybe not yet." Raki gave me a look before sitting me down into a wooden wheelchair. "By the way, miss, I never learned your name." He handed me a silk robe and blanket. I slipped on the robe, shivering, and draped the blanket over my legs. "I'm Eva."

Raki blinked. "What an unusual name," he pondered as he wheeled me towards the door. "Thanks," I answered shortly. "Oh, no, I didn't-" He stumbled over the words, but I shook my head, stopping him. "It's okay, you're fine."

I was quiet, examining the metal walls and clutching the blanket as we passed soldiers who stared at us - well, mainly at me. I assumed it was because of my appearance; I probably looked like death. "Hey, Raki?"

"Yes, Eva?"

"How long was I out?"

"About three days."

I could feel my eyes widen. I was about to open my mouth to ask another question, but it died in my throat as we reached the deck. "Wow..." Water. Lots of it. But that's not what caught my attention.

Ice and snow, piled up on top of one another, as if they were fighting for space. They towered above the ship, looking like skyscrapers, or even bridges. "Have you never been on a ship before?" Raki asked me. "No, actually..." I whispered.

"Well, that's strange," he answered. "You were found half frozen into an ice block when we found you."

"What?" I craned my neck back at the healer. "Seriously?"

"Ah, the young lady has awakened, so I see!" I looked back at the front of the ship's deck to see another man, who had a triangular beard and pot belly, walking toward us. His red robes seemed to fly behind him. "General Iroh." Raki bowed. Iroh smiled at him before turning to me. "Good morning," he greeted.

I squinted at him, partially because of the sun and my suspicion, before deciding to return the kind gesture. "Good morning," I said slowly.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"As good as feeling like hell can feel, I suppose," I admitted.

He chuckled and handed me a cup of tea I didn't even notice he'd been holding. I gratefully took it, my hands wobbling a bit. I leaned over it, the steam rising from it clouding my vision as I sniffed the liquid. I never really drank tea at home- I was more of a coffee or milk person. I could hear Iroh laugh, and I looked up. "It is not poison, child," he chuckled.

"I know," I muttered defensively. "I just... Didn't always drink tea." Iroh looked down, surprised. "Then it's best you drink up, child!" He exclaimed. "It's jasmine, one of my many favorites!"

I sipped at it, the heat of it burning my tongue, and I hissed, blowing on it to cool it off instead. It was sweet, and I felt more relaxed as it slid down my throat. Raki had left to go talk to someone and left me alone with Iroh. I cleared my throat. Awesome. Awkward silences.

"What is your name, child?" I heard Iroh ask. I looked up. "Er, I'm Genevieve." Iroh raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "An interesting name. Jen Iveeve? I have not heard of it before."

"Most people call me Eva though," I added quickly. "Very well then, Miss Eva," Iroh continued smiling. "If that is what you wish to be called, then so be it."

"Uncle!" A gruff voice called, and I gripped the cup tighter. I watched as Zuko pushed his way across the deck. Yes, I know who he is- I watched Avatar when I was a kid, he was one of the more... _Memorable_ characters.

Zuko stormed up to Iroh, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. I stared back, saying nothing, just observing him head to toe. He was frozen as if he was a statue- unmoving, and neither of us said anything until I felt my lips move. "You gonna talk or just stare at me until the sun goes down?"

He clenched his teeth. "You have no right to speak to me that way."

I said nothing.

"Uncle," Zuko began slowly. "Why was I not informed that the girl was awake?"

I quickly stepped in before Zuko lost his temper at his uncle. "Because I just got here."

He spun around to face me again. "I don't recall asking for your input." His lip curled into a sneer. "Why are you in a wheelchair anyway? Can't you walk?"

"I'm sorry, would you like vomit to stain the deck?"

"That is enough." Iroh gave us stern looks. "Prince Zuko, you know better than to speak to a lady that way.

"How can I speak to her properly when she refuses to respect me?" Zuko narrowed his eyes at me. I fisted the blanket in my lap. "Does she know who I _am?_ I'm the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation!"

"You are no prince of mine," I shot back, and immediately my heart began pounding from the lie. Stupid, stupid, stupid, _stupid!_ I have no idea what I looked like, but internally I was smashing my forehead against a brick wall.

If Zuko's eyes could get any more narrowed they'd look kind of terrifying because it's really not natural for eyelids to become that flat, but they looked like that anyway. "So where are you from?" He sneered, circling around my wheelchair. I kept my eyes facing forward, but I could feel my stomach starting to churn and bubble. Uh oh. "The Water Tribes? The Earth Kingdom?" He leaned in closer. "The Air Nomads?"

That was his mistake.

I leaned over, gagging, clutching my stomach and clamping my lips shut as Zuko stood up, startled. I felt something being shoved into my hands- a bucket, I guess. I bit my tongue as hard as I could without tasting blood, and I gasped out at Zuko, "Why the _fuck_ are you just standing there?"

And then I promptly vomited into the bucket.

Next thing I knew I was handed a warm, wet cloth. Leaning back into the chair I placed it under my T-shirt and over my stomach, taking deep breaths. I looked up to see who had given it to me. Raki. I didn't say anything to him, and he did the same. Instead, I remained silent and looked to Iroh, who I noticed was walking. And I was moving. I assumed I was headed back to my room.

Apparently they had something else in mind.

I was lead into a room filled with a warm, welcoming light and calming smell. I sighed, and closed my eyes, about ready to fall asleep, when "Now, where were we?" from Zuko broke into my relaxation.

"Man, can't you just go away?" I moaned.

"Silence, peasant!" I heard him snap, and I opened my eyes.

"What do you even want?" I sighed.

"Let's begin with a simple question." Iroh asked. I nodded. "Who are you?"

"I'm Eva."

"Where are you from?" Iroh continued. Shit. I had to think quickly, so I came up with, "I'm a Nomad."

"You're the Avatar?" Zuko's eyes bugged out of his head. I gave him a weirded out look. "You guys are so weird. Are you drunk?" Again with the narrowing of the eyes. "Don't lie."

"You honestly think I'm the friggin' Avatar?" I laughed weakly. "You're insane. All of you. Did you know that not all nomads are Air Nomads? I bet you didn't because it never got through that thick skull of yours." Zuko looked enraged.

"Be quiet!" He roared. "You don't know anything!" I felt anger flare up in my mind.

"Where are you from?" Iroh quickly interjected. Thank god for that- Zuko looked like he was going to hit me. Which I wouldn't have been physically ready for.

"Everywhere," I lied easily. "The whole world is my home."

"Who are your parents?" I pretended to give him a funny look. I couldn't pretend to ignore the twinge in my chest, or the lump in my throat. "They're people," I snapped, keeping my eyes wide open to try to dry out the tears. As tired as I was, I couldn't let them see me cry. I wouldn't.

"Right, they're people, but who are they?" Zuko prodded.

"Who they are doesn't matter."

"What does matter though is that we found you on an iceberg in the middle of the ocean in the South Pole." Zuko sneered. "So how'd you get there?"

"I got lost."

"Right," he laughed. "I have a bad sense of direction," I continued. More laughing. "What's so funny?" I hissed.

"There was no evidence of a boat crashing." Zuko pointed out, and my heart began thumping.

"So what?"

"So you're lying." What do I say? No? That's too touchy. Nope? No, too confident, too cocky. Oh!

I grinned. "Nah. I'm not." Perfect word. Kudos to me. "Because wood, you see, has the capability to sink when it's under a heavy weight." I paused. "Also if it's beginning to rot." I really didn't know if that was true, but I guess they bought it because Iroh stroked his beard and Zuko was still glaring but not as hard. Then he finally answered. "I don't believe you."

"And I don't care," I snapped. "Believe me or don't believe me. It's your choice, really. But know that I could care less about your search, or your title, or your ship. Because I am sick and exhausted and still cold. And unless you want to clean vomit off of your table, I suggest you let me go." I was really angry now, glaring at the Prince as hard as I could.

Zuko's nostrils flared and he snarled. "Don't speak to me that way, you filthy peasant!"

"That table looks really shiny and polished. And this rug looks real expensive," I warned. "It would really be a shame if something happened to it."

"Get out!" He roared, and I internally cringed at the sound of his voice because it was starting to make my head pound. "Get out, you piece of filth!" I rolled my eyes and leaned back into my chair as casually as I could without looking like I was in pain because damn my head hurt from his loud voice.

"Enough, Prince Zuko," Iroh chided. "I will escort Miss Eva back to her bed in the infirmary."

"She's lucky we didn't toss her overboard," Zuko muttered as Iroh stood and started wheeling me out of the room. "Hey!" I shot back. "You know what? Get your head out of your ass, it isn't a hat!"

"That is enough, both of you!" Iroh scolded us, and I felt bad. "Miss Eva, you should not be shouting or cursing. It is not very ladylike."

"Who said I wanted to be ladylike?" I snapped.

"And you, Prince Zuko, must learn to hold your temper." Iroh lectured.

Before either one of us could talk, I was in the hallway, listening to Iroh again. "You should not speak to him again like that, Eva," he told me sharply, and it kind of stung because this whole time he had been kind to me and I just lost my temper in front of the guy, which he really hadn't deserved to hear or see. And he had been calling me "Miss" too, which had dropped just now. "He is a prince-"

"Ain't no prince of mine," I mumbled.

"-and he will not take to that kindly."

I shrugged, slumping in my seat. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling and screaming and cursing and everything, but this isn't my fault that he's got a stick up his butt and thinks he's all high and mighty." Iroh sighed.

"My nephew has a... Tricky past. He will do anything to get the information he wants."

"And I am physically sick, and I am exhausted and really don't want to be here. And from the looks of it, he doesn't want me to be here either," I mumbled. All I kept hearing was defenses for Zuko's shitty attitude and I had a feeling i was going to lose my temper again _real_ soon.

(To any and all Zuko fangirls: I don't care if he's "misunderstood" or "lost" or shit like that. He's annoying, and irritating, and _rude_. Fucking fight me.)

"Eva, you musn't be so downhearted. I am sure he will ease up to you soon." Iroh was trying to be optimistic. If I didn't have a pounding headache the mean side of me would have melted because it's an old man who has seen the hardships of the world trying to hold onto the light.

Right now it was a pain in my ass.

"Listen," I began as we stopped at the infirmary. "I appreciate the optimism. However, I could care less about his opinion of me or if we'll be buddy-buddy or any of that. I just want to get better and-" I caught myself. "I want to get better and find my way back into the world and travel again. I'm not looking for anyone's approval, especially here."

I nodded at Iroh, who stared at me with an emotion shining in his eyes I couldn't seem to place. "Thank you for wheeling me back here. I think I'll try to walk back to bed now." I gripped the sides of my chair, and on shaking legs, I stood. The world spun and I grit my teeth, feeling hot and sticky and sweaty. I don't really remember what happened next, but I guess I made it to my bed because Iroh had placed the wheelchair inside, and shut the door. Soon after, I thought of Mom, and Dad, and Marie, and getting hit by that car. And the tears began to flow, and kept on coming until I couldn't cry anymore.

Soon, I fell asleep, welcoming the comforting blackness with open arms. 


	4. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I MISSED A WHOLE FUCKIGN CHAPTER AND ITS BEEN MISSING FOR F O U R MONTHS IM GOING TO KILL MYSEFL

Days passed, and I felt myself getting better. My teeth didn't chatter as much, I started eating again, and I could walk without feeling dizzy or like I was going to throw up. Iroh helped me pass the time with stories and jokes and teaching me how to play Pai Sho. Granted, I wasn't good at it, but it made the day go by faster, and it did give me something to do. The only thing that made me uneasy were some of the soldiers, staring at me constantly like some sort of prize to be won. Not all of them, mind you. Many were fathers or brothers, and helped me get used to where things were on the ship and what everything was. They were usually pretty kind, but stern. Still, I appreciated the generosity they gave. But the teens going into their twenties...

They creeped me out. I ignored them as best as I could, glaring at them, but one, Fan, annoyed me to no end. He was nineteen, and I remembered reading that when an older guy is into you, it probably isn't a good sign. So, kind of creeped out, I kept shifting away from him when he tried to sit next to me at daily meals. Soon, two weeks had passed by, and before I knew it, I had made a few friends.

"I heard he was bad news," whispered An, a quiet and kindhearted seventeen year old. All of the other soldiers I had befriended were younger than the other men, and all of them were different than the soldier's mold they were being forced into. An, for example, was lean and bony, mostly keeping to himself and if I'm being honest, not all that strong physically. "Where'd you hear that from?" Chang snorted. He was sixteen and had quite a lot of sarcasm in him, always cracking jokes and puns."He was from the Fire Nation Capital City. You came from a village outside it."

"My father did business with his father once," An said again, picking at his fish. "He said it didn't end well."

"So I guess the guy's like his old man I guess?" I pushed the rice around in my bowl as I listened.

"That's an understatement," said Heng Guo. He was sixteen like Chang, but very serious, and very intelligent, but scrawny and lanky. When I had seen him on the ship I had to do a double take- I would have pegged him as someone in strategics, not as a part of the Navy. "Really, Eva, you need to stay away from him." I shoveled some rice into my mouth and waved at him. "I'w be fine," I said, accidentally spewing rice. "I'w kick his ass."

"Ugh, Eva!" Heng Guo complained as rice grains stuck to his sleeve. "Nasty." An shook his head. "What?" Chang teased. "Couldn't really hear you." Swallowing, I glared at Chang, who was biting back a laugh. "I'll be fine, if he breaches my personal space, I kick his ass."

"Kick who's ass?" We looked up to see Fan towering over our table.

"Oh, um." I looked around the table. "I think I might try to learn how to spar, so we were talking about how I'd probably kick An's ass." Fan laughed as An kicked me under the table.

"Not to worry, Genevieve," he attempted to reassure me, leaning over towards me. I backed away as his shadow loomed over me. "I'll handle him for you. No need to scratch your delicate hands." Ugh. What a misogynist. An had told me that in the Captial City, he was known to be quite the, um... Woman-hater, of sorts.

I stared at him, baffled, and looked at Heng Guo, who shrugged. I forced a fake grin onto my face. "Thanks but no thanks. I can take care of myself." God I didn't even want to say this guy's name. It sounded like a filthy word, tasting almost sour on the tongue. I stood, holding my plate, moving to place it with the other dirty dishes, when I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder. I panicked as I was forcibly flipped around, and immediately shoved the hand off of my shoulder. Fan was staring down at me menacingly, a look in his eyes I didn't want to place. "What is wrong with you?" I hissed. "Are you trying to get me in even more trouble with Zuko than I already am by making a mess?"

He briefly glanced over his shoulder at where Zuko and Iroh sat, eating. "Never mind them, Genevieve." He smiled sickeningly as he leaned closer. Once again, I leaned away. "I was a pretty good sparrer back home. If you need any help with your stances... I can give you a few private lessons." He was speaking suggestively, waggling his eyebrows, and I watched my hand, with a mind all its own, rise up and come down on the chiseled face. "You are disgusting," I spat as the crack echoed through the mess hall, and people lifted their heads to see what was going on. "You are nineteen and I am fourteen. This is ridiculous."

I watched Fan rub his cheek as I looked over his shoulder and caught Zuko and Iroh staring us down- Iroh's face was made up with concern, while Zuko had no emotion at all. He seemed to be telling me, _'You handle it. You can take care of yourself? Prove it.'_ Prove it, I will.

An, Chang, and Heng Guo were looking on in shock. "Are you sure you wanted to do that, Genevieve?" Fan's voice was dangerously low.

"Get out of my way," I snapped. "And I ask, politely, that you stop bothering me. I've had enough of this nonsense from you." I walked to the dirty dishes and placed my plate with the others, and before I headed out the door, I caught Chang's look. _'Watch your back.'_ I blinked at him, before looking around once more and leaving the mess hall.

<><><>

It was midnight, cold, and pitch black. You'd have thought I'd be in the room provided for me, under a few blankets.

 _EEEEH_. Wrong!

Because I was walking through the halls of the ship, grumbling my whole way about _"The fuck kind of person wants to get up at midnight to see the stars-"_ _"This lesson about the Four Nations better be worth it-" "Bringing tea and cakes my ass Iroh's probably just bribed me to get on deck-"_ I was tired, cold and cranky, winding through the maze of hallways in Zuko's ship.

I was a little ways away from the deck, ready to start complaining to Iroh about how cold it was, and a hand clamped down around my mouth. I panicked, biting down on their fingers as hard as I could, kicking them in the shins. "Stop- struggling, you stupid bitch-!" Fan. _Oh, god._

"You know, for the entire two weeks you've been here, you've been a real pain in my ass," he hissed into my ear. I screamed into his hand. "But you should have said yes to me when you had the chance." I answered his taunt by biting into his palm again until the metallic taste of blood reached my lips. He moved his hand to switch to the other, when I turned around and punched his jaw as best I could with what little strength I really had.

He staggered back, and I screamed, "Help! Fan's trying to-" I was interrupted by him knocking me to the ground. The wind was knocked out of me, but I kept yelling, feeling footsteps shake the metal floor of the ship. "Help me! _Oh, my God, get him away!_ "

"No!" Fan was trying to pull me back up, pull me to him, and I squirmed to get out of his grip. "No, you fucking whore, you're not ruining this for me!" I spit on his armor, and he raised his hand, smacking me so hard across the face that I fell to the ground. "You won't ruin this for me! This was my chance to find glory!"

"There is no glory in dying on the battlefield!" I screamed.

"What is the meaning of this?" I looked up from the floor to see two other patrolmen towering above me. Fan shrunk back against the wall. I pointed at him. "He- He made an attempt to rape me!"

"No!" Fan shook his head wildly. "No, she's lying!"

"He backhanded me." I pointed to my face, where the wound throbbed. His nails had scraped me in different places when we were struggling, but the bruising was probably visible. If there was any bruising to see, anyway. "That's aggravated assault." At least I think it is. One of the men grabbed Fan's arm- the latter tried to squirm away, but the other soldier was older and much stronger than he was.

"Right you are," he nodded. "Come with me- you're going to see his Highness."

Fan exploded. "His Highness?!" He shrieked. "He's nothing but a coward! A fool! He didn't deserve to live! He should have-"

"Shut up!" The other soldier shoved Fan against a wall. "Unless you want to be thrown overboard and left to freeze!"

"You'll pay for this, Genevieve!" He screamed. "You ruined my shot!" My chest heaved as he was dragged around the corner. The other patrolman sighed, and knelt down to where I lay on the ground, panicking. He smiled gently. "Come on," he offered me his hand. "I know General Iroh is waiting for you, but you should go back to your room. I'll explain to him what happened. He'll be with Prince Zuko to decide Fan's punishment."

"He- He will be punished, right?" I heard myself say. "Not pardoned?" The patrolman frowned.

"He'll still be on the ship, but he will face punishment, yes. Don't worry. It'll be okay." I could only really hope he was right.

<><><>

"Ugh, finally! Lunch!" I flopped against the canteen door dramatically as Heng Guo rolled his eyes at me. "Stop being so dramatic, Eva."

I stuck my tongue out at him playfully while making a beeline for the kitchens to collect my portions of the rations. As I sat down, An leaned over the table to talk. "Eva, is it true? What happened last night?" An whispered, horrified. My heart skipped a beat and a lump formed in my throat as I chewed on my rice.

"What happened?" Chang asked. My mouth went dry and the fish I was eating didn't seem so appealing to me anymore. "Uh, nothing..."

"Nothing?!" An whispered fiercely. "You call almost being raped and Fan being on probation until further notice nothing?"

" _What?"_

"Probation?" My mouth dropped open. I scowled. "I'm not talking about this right now."

"Fan did this?" Chang seethed, looking to me for an answer. I didn't respond. "Chang," Heng Guo stammered nervously as the young man stood up. "I'll kill him," he rumbled. "I swear-" Without looking up, I reached up, grabbed Chang's sleeve and forcefully yanked him onto the mat. He yelped as he tumbled to the floor. I leaned into his face and spoke through gritted teeth. "You want to have this conversation? We have it outside. Do I make myself clear?"

"Or what?" He challenged. I narrowed my eyes, taken aback. "Or nothing. Unless you want the cold shoulder."

He stopped, and glared. "You're impossible." My chopsticks dropped onto the table.

"I'm _what?_ What does that mean?" He said nothing as he picked up his plate and moved away.

I stared at him in shock and mild offense, before picking up my plate and leaving the mess hall, slamming the door behind me. Making it to my room, I placed the plate down on a table and kicked the door.

And then I hissed in pain because that wasn't one of the smartest ideas I've ever had.

Laying down on the bed, I sighed. There was a pit in my stomach and my throat was tightening up. I turned on my side and breathed in and out, closing my eyes and drifting off. After what felt like only two minutes, there was a rapping on the door. I groggily sat up, rubbing my eyes as I heard rain pattering against the window of the small room. "Eva? Eva, it's Heng Guo." He sounded panicked. Why does he sound panicked? My heartbeat sped up.

I quickly shuffled towards the door and opened it, yawning as I squinted at Heng Guo's shaky form. "What's going on?" I asked. "It's Chang!" Heng Guo cried. "He's- He's hanging off the railing of the ship!" That woke me up. My eyes widened in horror. "What? How the hell did he get there?" I shoved on my shoes and pushed Heng Guo out of the way as we jogged down the hall.

"He slipped off when making his rounds, tossed over by the winds- Eva, there's a storm brewing outside. It's getting bad out there. How didn't you hear it?" Heng Guo asked me, a hint of suspicion in his voice. "I was asleep, okay?" I angrily responded. "God, at least he's not suicidal."

"Why would you think that?" The boy was horrified, and I rolled my eyes. "Okay, well, when you come to my door when I'm sleeping and go _'Hey Eva, how are you, by the way our friend's hanging off of the ship's railing'_ I start to think of the worst," I snapped.

"I didn't ask how you were when I reached your door," he protested as we reached the ship's deck.

"How rude of you." I squinted up at the huge grey stormclouds up above us, but what I was really looking at was the men that were crowded around the railing.

I started making my way out the door but a hand clamped down on my shoulder. "Let me go!" I shoved his hand off of my shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"I don't want you falling off too," Heng Guo pleaded. "Don't go out there, _please_."

"Then what was the point of telling me?" I snapped. His shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry. I have to help." I rushed outside, pushing men out of the way and inhaled sharply when I saw Chang's familiar calloused hands gripping onto the iron bar. My stomach twisted nervously when I caught sight of how high up we were from the churning black waters. Shaking my head, I grabbed onto Chang's arms and he looked up in surprise. "The hell are you doing here?"

"Helping you live, you idiot!" I shouted. I turned to the soldiers around me who were trying to help him up. "Did someone send for rope?" They answered yes, and I felt his muscles contract as he tried to pull up, but even with the strength of two grown men and a fourteen year old girl, he was still under threat of being tossed over by the winds. "Shen!" A voice cut through the rumbling of the storm, and I turned to see a soldier jogging towards us, thrusting rope over our arms. "It's the General and the Prince," the man muttered nervously.

Sure enough, it was. Zuko and Iroh were squinting through the rain that had begun to pound down on the ship and the few men and I that were out here. My attention was drawn back to Chang as he grabbed my arm and the other soldier's arm, and desperately tried to pull up with all his might, only to slip and fall. I let out a small shriek as he clung onto the deck of the ship, no longer holding onto the railing. I crouched down, gripping onto his arms as his fingers threatened to slip.

"Eva, what is happening?" Iroh yelled over the sound of the downpour of rain. "Chang fell overboard!" I shouted back over my shoulder as the two men next to me tried helping. "He- he fell just now, but, but he's holding onto the deck and his fingers are slipping and I'm trying to hold on but-"

"Eva!" I turned to Chang. "I have to let go." My heart stopped. Was he fucking insane? So I voiced this out loud to him.

"You _have_ to let me go, to Eva!" He cried. "It's no use! My fingers are cold and wet and I can't stay here forever. I have to go down under."

"Oh, what a lovely idea," I told him sarcastically. "Want me to get you some moon cakes while I'm at it?"

"Genevieve!" He snapped. "Listen to me, be serious!"

"I am being serious, you fucking dolt!" I gripped on to his arm tighter. "You're one of my best friends, I can't just do that!"

"He's right," a soldier with a goatee said quietly. "He's not gonna last for much longer." I gaped at him, at the other men who were starting to loosen their grip. "How can any of you say such a thing?" I breathed, horrified. "Eva, let me go." Chang's fingers were slipping.

"No, no!" I screamed, shaking my head. "You'd die! You'd be crushed by the ship's hull!" It seemed like everyone had lost their minds except for me. Chang said something, but it was lost in the wind and rain. His fingers pried mine off of his arms, his eyes sad. Then he let go.

I screamed, ready to launch myself over the railing when I felt two pairs of arms wrap around my waist: Iroh and Zuko. Zuko looked angry and mildly annoyed while Iroh's face was held in sadness.

"Weren't you two over there?" I hissed, tears blurring my vision. "Watching one of your men cling onto life while the rest of us tried to save him?"

"I don't need this from you. And whatever you're thinking, Eva, don't do it," Zuko whispered fiercely into my face, and I blinked harshly, tears mixing in with the rain. "You'd be a fool, and not a martyr in my books."

They led me away from the railing, and let go, walking towards the doorway. Iroh looked back, waiting for me to follow. I stood there, numb with cold and anger and sadness. "Eva?" I heard Iroh's voice, and I decided to do something really, really stupid. I sprinted back to the railing, but I guess Zuko knew what I was planning to do, because I could hear him screaming for the soldiers to catch me and drag me back inside once they did. I reached the railing and looked back over my shoulder as Zuko ran a few feet away from me, scowling down at me with a look of panic and anger on his face. I took a deep breath. And then I did the dumbest thing a human being can ever possibly do. (Well maybe not the dumbest, but definitely on the list.)

I jumped over the fucking railing.

I was freefalling, but I could see the railing of the ship getting smaller and smaller, and screamed as Zuko's scarred face was getting farther and farther away. I closed my eyes, thinking, _'Well. I guess this is it.'_ And then I felt a rather obnoxious amount of pain as my back smacked against the water.

Everything was dark, and wet, and just really fucking cold. I had no idea what to do- I hated opening my eyes underwater, but I did anyway. The salt burned my eyes but I ignored it, spotting a body which looked like it was hundreds of feet away, frantically clawing at the water and swimming up to the surface. I forced myself to swim up and when I did, I gasped for air, rubbing my eyes.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay," I muttered to myself. "I need to get there. But how?" I thought for a few seconds, before slapping my hands furiously against the ocean. "Damn it!" I screamed up at the sky. Deep grey clouds rolled overhead, thunder rumbled angrily and the rain poured down on me like I was at a waterpark. " _Why me? Why this?_ " I kicked and screamed like a little kid, and I knew I was putting on a show for everyone on the ship, but really, who gives a damn? "What did I do to deserve this, huh? Is this some sort of bullshit destiny plot for me?"

"Genevieve!" I looked up. Iroh was screaming himself hoarse, cupping his hands around is mouth as soldiers crowded along the side of the deck. "What is it you are doing, child?"

"Eh?" I shouted back. "I'm kind of busy!"

"You never told us you were a waterbender!" Heng Guo shouted excitedly from the edge of the ship.

"A waterbender? I'm not a-" I stopped as I felt mist around my legs, and I noticed I was a bit higher up than normal. Like, twenty feet up, not normal. Like, on-a-mini-hurricane not normal. _Okay... Panicking..._

Who am I? Percy Jackson?

"What? Wh-whoa!" I shrieked as I landed back in the ocean. Another big bruise on my back, all thanks to my stupidity.

 _'Okay, so if I'm a waterbender, then maybe I can get to Chang faster,'_ I thought. Trying my best to imitate Katara, I swooped my arms downward, and the water shoved itself behind me. And I didn't move. ' _Maybe I can... rope? Water rope?_ ' I thought desperately for the word, but shook my head. _'Maybe I can loop the water around Chang's waist, and bring him to me.'_ Taking a deep breath, I circled my arms around my body and immediately, the water leapt up out of the ocean and created a small circle. I kept looping my arms around me, and the water circled around itself faster.

 _'Lasso,'_ I thought to myself. _'The word you were looking for was lasso, Eva. You dummy.'_ Spotting Chang's body up ahead, I wondered how I could keep the water from melting away.

Oh. Ice. Duh.

Concentrating hard, I focused on turning the water from liquid to solid. I remembered from watching the first season (that's honestly as far as I got) that you would have to exhale on the water and then it would harden. Breathing in again, I opened my eyes and spread my arms outward, exhaling hard. The water solidified, and I smiled triumphantly.

 _'Now to send it over there. Maybe if I just...?'_ I shot an arm out, aiming to Chang, and the water lasso launched itself into the air. "C'mon, c'mon..." I held my breath, nervously gnawing on my bottom lip. The ice thunked around Chang, and he looked up in surprise. "YES!" I cheered, and in my excitement, pumped my fist in the air. What I didn't know was that by doing that, I had tightened the lasso around Chang's body, and shot him closer to me.

"Whoa! _Cool!_ " I exclaimed. "Let's just-" I jabbed my arm towards me, and Chang was yanked closer. "Okay, just-" One more time: he was closer, almost enough for me to swim towards him- "Last one!" I stopped when he was ten feet away, and swam faster than I had ever swum in my life, not stopping until I reached him, and focused my energy on the ice holding him in place. I flicked my wrist, and the ice liquified, and I slung my arm around Chang, taking in his pale face and shaking midsection.

"You okay?" I shouted over the winds.

"W-Why th-the hell did you not tell us you were a w-w-waterbender?" Chang's teeth chattered as he placed a shaking arm around my shoulder.

"Because," I grunted, shifting my weight. "I just found out, too. Come on, let's get you to Raki. And never-" I punched his shoulder, and he hissed in pain, but laughed. "-do that again, you hear?"

"Sh-Shouldn't I b-be t-t-telling you th-that?" He shuddered. I shook my head, smiling and looked up, squinting past the rain. "LET'S LOWER A ROPE, YOU GUYS!" I hollered up at Zuko and his men. It was quiet for a moment, the only sounds being the rain and Chang's chattering teeth before the end of a rope plunked on top of my head.

I glared, but reached up and grabbed onto it. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold onto a 150 pound, sixteen year old boy, so I propelled my legs and the water spouted up to carry me. Laziness at its finest. Who would have thought?

I lowered myself onto the deck and Chang toppled to the ground, shivering. Two soldiers hoisted him up and dragged him down the hall to the healer's room. _"Brr!"_ I shook, and smiled. Waterbending was interesting. Terrifying, but interesting. I turned around only to find Iroh and Zuko glowering down at me.

Uh oh.

<><><>

PSA: Don't jump over the railing of a ship. Don't do it. I don't care if you're doing it for the Vine, or for Instagram, just don't do it. The consequences (both physically, and emotionally) aren't fun. So don't jump over the railing of a ship.

Iroh and Zuko had lectured me all the way back to my room- mostly Iroh, about what a stupid idea it had been for me to jump over the railing and how I could have died and that if I ever pulled a stunt like that again they'd leave me here. Zuko interrogated me again, with _"Why didn't you tell us you're a waterbender?"_ and _"What else are you hiding?"_ and _"Whatever it is, I'm going to find out, I swear to you and your peasantry-!"_ and so on. I didn't react very well, only spouting out different things about how I saved that man's life and instead of letting him die like they had all decided to, the bastards, then why wasn't anyone else getting punished? Why was it just me?

"Because no one else was stupid enough to launch themselves forty feet into the ocean!" Zuko had barked. "In the middle of a storm, no less!" I had wanted to tease him, to push his buttons and see how far I could get, but I didn't. I didn't think it would help me get through this any faster, and I stood, dripping wet, shivering as Zuko angrily let out smoke from his nostrils in frustration, which was, in of itself, pretty intimidating. Iroh was quiet. That was the worst part. He was quiet once we had reached my room and Zuko and I stood arguing.

"Iroh?" I had whispered, my voice threatening to crack. "What do you think?" He was quiet, and stayed that way for a while. All I could hear was my heart thumping in my ears, Zuko's enraged breathing and the _drip-drip-drip_ of the water droplets onto the metal floor. It got to the point where I thought I might start crying, but then Iroh answered. "I think it was foolishly noble of you. Foolish and stupid, but brave." I was quiet.

"I think I'll go change now." My voice had finally broken, and I dashed into my room, slamming the door behind me. That's how I ended up here, re-reading one of the plays I had to read earlier in the school year about Greek drama. My fingers, warm from the bath I had taken, moved over the black words, laughing up at me from the page. I lay down on my bed, reading about Antigone and how she buried her brother or something. Only half paying attention to what the play said, I took note about how dark it had been when Heng Guo and I went to the deck to find Chang. It must have been about eleven or so then, which meant it was around two in the morning now- it seems that no one wanted me to actually sleep anymore.

Against my will, I thought about what Dad would have said- probably something about how it would not only negatively affect me, but my ability to learn. He's always going off about stuff like that. Mom would just be furious. She'd give me chamomile tea and a sleeping pill and then when I woke up she'd give me a disappointed look and a lecture about health. I always hate it when she does that.

My God, I miss them.

My eyelids grew heavy, and I turned onto my side, falling asleep.

I was in a forest of some sort- no, a village. Maybe a village near a forest? Anyway, I was there, but I was watching from above. Like a still from a TV show or something. It was strange, but what scared me more than anything else was the red stuff on the ground. I looked down at myself and decided that since this was a dream, maybe I could walk on the ground?

In the blink of an eye, I stood in the middle of it all and fought the urge to shriek at what I saw- mangled, bloody corpses. Not many of them, but still, it was brutal. The red liquid was blood. It wasn't smooth- it had chunks in it and I painfully realized that those were brains, that those were people's memories and thoughts and who they had been.

I wanted to gag. I wanted to scream. But I couldn't do anything else but walk forward, like something was tugging me, pulling me along like I was a puppet on a string.

I walked past dead villagers and crinkled my nose, trying not to look at them any longer than I needed to.

I knew that I was in a dream, that this wasn't real, and that my actual, physical body was back on the ship, so why hadn't I woken up yet? Normally I would have been able to.

 _'Maybe a part of you wants to stay,'_ a voice whispered. _'Maybe you want to come and play with us, Genevieve.'_ The voice was sickly sweet, an older woman's voice. I clenched my jaw and said nothing, because A) I couldn't, and B) responding to this woman somehow felt like I was giving in to something.

I kept walking until I noticed someone kneeling in the center of the village- a girl, bent over, mumbling to herself, rocking back and forth in a puddle of red. _"Angel of God, my Guardian dear..."_

I gasped for air, and I suddenly couldn't breathe, the air being pushed out of my lungs as pictures and images flashed over my vision.

A knife being raised, a sword going through a man's body-

 _"To whom God's love entrusts me here..._ " A girl being knocked out with chloroform and shown in front of women who had their hair and bodies covered, almost like nuns. The same girl running through a forest, looking over her shoulder, furiously bending water from the plants around her into daggers. The same girl, whose head was bowed and posture rigid as a board as a black uniform was handed to her.

 _"Ever this day, be at my side..."_ An island, stranded in the middle of nowhere. The same girl hiding in a cargo hold of a ship, stuck in between boxes as drunk, rowdy men threatened to uncover her hiding spot.

 _"To rule..."_ A door opened, revealing a shadow holding a long knife. A man, stumbling and staggering towards a house and clumsily opening the door with a bottle of liquor in his hand. The same damn girl watching from the trees as a woman inside hurriedly hid the two children inside as her breathing quickened.

 _"To watch..."_ Tears dripping down onto a little boy's sleeping face.

 _"To guide..."_ Blood flying through the air. A woman screaming.

 _"And guard..."_ Blue eyes clenching shut as an arrow whizzed through the air and landed in what I assumed was their determined target with a thunk and a loud cry.

" _Amen..."_

My vision cleared. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to cry. I wanted to hurt whoever ripped those people away from their families. But I couldn't move.

 _'Oh, silly Genevieve,'_ the voice chided almost cheerfully. _'Don't you see?'_

The girl stood from her kneeling position and kept her back to me. She kept her head in the dark, but I could see wisps of hair pulled up and I stared at her curiously. Curiosity turned to hatred when I noticed that she had on a black catsuit and held a long, bloody knife in one hand, the other clenched into a fist next to a skin on her waist.

 _'You don't yet, of course, but you will,'_ the voice whispered. _'You are lost, without a place to call your own. But Genevieve, you have nothing to fear...'_

The girl turned around, but before I could catch a glimpse of her face, she elbowed me in the face, knocking me over as I cried out and placed me in a chokehold, her grip like iron on my skin. I reached up, knocking the dagger out of her hand, hearing it clatter on the ground. The blood splashed, sticky on my arms and in my hair as I thrashed about, desperately trying to fight back, but she was too strong. When everything started to fade, she stood. I gasped for air, ready to stand, but a foot stomped down on my neck, and I was right back to being choked again.

_'Black Widow will always be there to welcome you home.'_

She bent down to reach for her knife, and I only caught a glimpse of gritted teeth and yellow hair before everything in my dream went black.

<><><>

I woke with a gasp, hands flying to my cheeks and around my hair. No blood. No dead bodies. No death. Just me.

Well, me and my bed, of course.

I lay on my back and thought about my dream. It made no sense. "Black Widow will always be there to welcome you home?" I muttered. What did that mean? Black Widow was a fictional character, she wasn't and could not have been real in any way. The images, though...

I shuddered in bed, deciding to try to forget about it. It was just a dream, right? I snuggled into my sheets, sighing. Honestly, I thought the weirdest thing to ever happen to me was fall up the stairs. Apparently life has stranger things planned for me.

I was about to go back to bed when I realized something that made my eyes snap open, that made me leap out of bed and slam open the door and had me running to Iroh's and Zuko's rooms. That "same damn girl" had blond hair. That "same damn girl" had the same tooth structure as I did. And if I'm right, those images were her memories or her experiences, so that "same damn girl" had blue eyes.

That "same damn girl" wasn't just anyone.

She was _me_.


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM DONE I JUST  
> I HAD TO REARRANGE EVERYTHING JUST NOW  
> LE SIGH  
> COMMENT IF U LIKED IT I GUESS OR LEAVE KUDOS PLEASE

"I'm telling the truth!" I stood defiantly in front of Zuko and Iroh, hands on my hips. "I'm _fourteen_! Why would I want to kill anyone?"

Let's backtrack a bit here. After I raced to their rooms (well, technically just Iroh's: he insisted we needed to tell Zuko, too) to tell them that I needed to speak with them, we entered the map room and they sat down. Well, Iroh did. Zuko stood glaring at me. Anyway, I told them all about my dream- the corpses, the blood, the girl whispering the Guardian Angel's prayer, the horrible flashes of images and the sickly sweet voice telling me that Black Widow would always be there to welcome me home. I mentioned that she wasn't just any girl- she somehow looked exactly like me. I told Iroh I desperately needed answers, and that I also needed to know if he could help me. "Dreams are omens, child," he said, stroking his beard, a disturbed look in his eyes. "Perhaps this is a vision of your future." My stomach sunk at that and I felt my eyes go wide.

"Or of your past," Zuko had muttered.

Which is how we ended up where we presently are. He had cornered me and asked me if I had ever been this "Black Widow," or if I had ever hurt anyone.

"Because!" He snapped, ponytail-thing flying. "We don't really know who you are or where you came from!"

"But I'd never want to hurt anyone," I protested. "And I swear on my life, I never have intentionally injured anyone, and I don't plan on doing so now. I've never even been in a village like that one before!"

"Oh, really?" Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Then where did you live?"

 _Shit_. I had to come up with a lie. And quickly. Um...

"My mother was from the Northern Water Tribe!" I spouted out. "My father was from the Earth Kingdom! We didn't live in one place for very long. We moved around a lot when I was little."

Zuko seemed taken aback by this, but then sneered, like he had found a flaw in my words. Knowing me, he probably did.

"Then where are they now?" He snarled. "Did you kill them, too?"

Oh, that's it. "No, I didn't!" I yelled. "I left them and they left me. That's that! I'm alone and I have no one! I'm all by myself and on a ship with _you!_ You're awful and horrible and cold hearted and you will never do anything worthwhile while walking on this path!"

"Out!" Zuko roared, shooting to his feet, and I did the same, stomping to the door and shooting a withering glare over my shoulder.

"Oh, believe me, I didn't want to be here anyway," I said sarcastically.

I stormed out of the room, the door banging against the metal wall as I heard Zuko holler behind me, "Then why did you come to us?"

Glaring again, I turned around and shouted, "I came to see Iroh, to ask him, not to ask you, you poor excuse for a prince!"

" _You little-"_

I didn't give him the chance to speak as I slammed the door shut behind me and stomped back towards my room. I hated him so much. Why me?

Fuck everything. Fuck him and his "tragic" fucking backstory. I don't need or want to hear or live through the drama.

I'm know saying this a lot. I'm saying it so much my heart aches. I'm saying it enough that I'm starting to get annoyed with myself for saying it.

I want to go home.

<><><><>

I woke up from my half sleep to hear what sounded like a hoard of elephants trampling down the corridor. Pissed off because _bitch I was sleeping_ , I slammed my door open and stomped down the hallway to the deck.

"What the FUCK is going on?" I screeched, and the soldiers moving about stopped for a moment and stared at me before craning their necks to look down below them. Heng Guo and An rushed over to me and pulled me with them. "What? What's going on? Heng Guo, tell me," I demanded.

"The Avatar has been found," Heng Guo said excitedly. "We've stopped at the Southern Water Tribe to get him and bring him back to the Fire Nation to the Fire Lord." My breath caught in my throat and my heart stopped. I felt dizzy and confused for a moment and then I remembered just where I was.

Aang.

Aang was the Avatar- he could help me go home.

I broke free from Heng Guo's grip and shoved my way till I was near Zuko- er, somewhat near him. I stood about twenty feet behind him, watching as he and the other soldiers stood at the ramp, waiting to walk off. The ship shook and water sloshed to the sides of the ship, wind coming up in icy cold breaths. I could hear children and women screaming, and I covered my ears to block it out. Then, the ship stopped, and smoke erupted from the pipes. I took the opportunity to push my way through the sea of men again and crouched down in a corner of the ramp, trying to avoid being seen. Knowing me, I probably wasn't doing that good of a job.

The metal slide dropped down with a loud bang, and snow was thrown to either side of it. Zuko and the other men walked menacingly down the ramp and I followed suit, jumping down when I wasn't too high up. The snow was wet and freezing and the cold bit at my feet and ankles, my sneakers doing nothing to protect my skin from the freezing temperatures. As I crept alongside the ramp, I watched as Sokka attempted to attack Zuko and winced as he was thrown aside like a rag doll, headfirst into a snow bank. That's gotta sting. The women and children all gasped and trembled in fear, and I hated that there wasn't anything I could do about it. This was the way the story had to go, or else it wouldn't end up the same.

Zuko- the fucking douchebag- treaded slowly through the tribe until he stopped at Katara and an old woman who I assumed was her grandmother. "Where are you hiding him," he snarled, and when they didn't respond, he grabbed Katara's grandmother and began shaking her as he spoke.

"He'd be about this age, master of all elements!" Zuko shouted, and the tribe looked on in fear. I wasn't supposed to talk. I wasn't supposed to interfere. But I couldn't help myself.

"Zuko, stop!"

He turned to me in surprise, as did the rest of the tribe. His eyes were wide, but turned into slits as usual whenever he looked at me. "I'll deal with you later," he growled, and threw the old woman back to Katara, before swinging his fist, and flames jutting out just above the people's heads. They screamed, and Zuko shouted again. "I know you're hiding him!"

"Stop, just stop!" I screamed, wishing I could . "They're not hiding him, if they were they would have handed him over by now! Leave them alone, they're innocent!"

"This has nothing to do with you, you low-life scum!" He roared at me.

"This has everything to do with me if you're going to kill innocent women and children like some psychopath!" Said women and children shuddered in fear. One girl began to cry. "Stop, please! Please don't hurt them! _Please!"_

"YAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sokka charged at Zuko one last time, swinging his club "dangerously." _Would he make it?_

Nope. He ended up in another snow bank.

But not before he threw his boomerang and narrowly missed a lick of flames. Zuko grunted in surprise as the boomerang whizzed past his head and glared at him as one little Water Tribe boy chanted, "Show no fear!" as he tossed Sokka a poorly made spear.

As the idiots "fought" I forced my frozen legs to run to Katara and her grandmother, slipping and sliding on ice before I dropped down on my knees in front of the dark skinned women, shivering. "He's c-coming," I chattered as they stared down at me in shock. "I know he is." Katara grimaced, looking at her brother, saying nothing as Zuko snapped the bone-spear in half.

Then he got hit in the head with Sokka's boomerang. I giggled before scowling at the prince who was struggling to control his temper.

BOOM.

He went flying into the air as Aang crashed into him, and I laughed out loud this time, turning back to Zuko, who's helmet had landed almost majestically on his backside. I snickered, and caught eyes with one of the soldiers, who's lips turned upward into a smile. Chang.

The children cheered as Aang slid past them on a penguin, before being showered in snow. After giving each other unamused looks for a few seconds, they shook it off and began cheering even louder. I smiled and shook my head as Aang skidded to a halt in front of Sokka, Katara, their grandmother and I. Before Aang could get off, the penguin made a disgruntled noise and threw Aang off its back, making him land on his backside and he stared at it stupidly before grinning as it quawked at him and waddled away.

"Hey Sokka. Hey Katara. Hey Gran-Gran. Hey..." His voice trailed off when he saw me, and his happy expression turned to one of confusion. "Who're you?"

I huffed, rubbing my arms. "I'm Genevieve. I know it's a weird name, don't ask, go defend the village."

I watched as Sokka glared at me as hard as he could, and I stared back at him, saying nothing. The tribe moved back anxiously as Zuko got up and whirled around, snapping his hand. The six soldiers spread around us as Zuko assumed his fighting stance.

Aang assumed his own stance, Aang abruptly swept his staff across the ground, showering the men on either side of him with snow as he slammed the ground in front of him, sending a rush of ice, snow and icy cold breeze at Zuko, who's eyes narrowed as the snow melted and turned into steam.

"Looking for me?" Aang straightened from his bent position, his gaze never leaving Zuko's face. I could see Zuko's shock and I laughed, ignoring the strange looks from the people of the Water Tribe. I suddenly felt... powerful. Dangerous. Like someone was calling out to me in my subconscious. I arched my back, shuddering and my hands clenched into fists as Zuko demanded, "You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?"

Katara looked at me in disbelief before noticing my hands and my back, and the fact that my head was twisting back and my jaw was clenching and I couldn't control my own body. "Genevieve?"

Well, obviously I wasn't gonna answer, so she turned to Aang. "Aang?"

"No way..." Sokka muttered in surprise.

Zuko ignored the two as he and Aang started circling each other. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating." He sneered. "You're just a child!"

"Well," Aang tilted his head with a confused expression, "You're just a teenager."

Zuko's eyes evaluated Aang, before turning to me. "What's wrong with her?" He snapped. Katara's mouth opened and closed in shock and fear, unable to speak. I chuckled madly- it was like I wasn't even in my own body anymore. Something else was moving my limbs, stretching my fingers, curving my lips upward into an insane grin. "Don't you remember that dream I had last night?" I whispered. Woah. Not even my own fucking voice anymore.

Okay... Starting to get creeped out...

"Don't you remember the message I got?" Without warning, I shot forward, kicking Sokka down and using him as a launch pad as he yelped, flying up into the air and kicking Zuko down, pressing my weight down into my feet. Holding my hands up to my chest protectively, I watched as one of the soldiers moved to attack me, but Zuko stopped them, holding up a hand. "You filthy little bitch," he snarled, and I smirked.

"Oh, I know," I whispered, and he and I charged at each other, before I slid underneath him and grabbed his ankle, dragging him down onto the icy landscape as he yelped.

Where the fuck did I get that from?

One of the soldiers grabbed me from behind, wrapping their arm around my neck, and I couldn't breathe. I struggled for a moment before stomping on their foot, and throwing my head back, hearing a satisfying crunch as their nose broke. Two more men, Chang included, came my way. Balancing myself on one hand, I twirled on the ice and knocked them down into the ground with my foot, slipping onto the ice before standing quickly. One soldier was getting up, hand on one knee, and I jumped up using their knee and kicked them in the head, knocking them out. I was suddenly aware that I was doing this, that I was fighting with skills that I had never had before in my life-

I fell to the ice with a painful _thud_ , and I was aware of the village cheering me on, but I didn't smile.

As I suddenly was snapped out of whatever warrior like bullshit my mind was being subjected to, Zuko shot flames at me in anger. I yelped, and quickly swept my hands up, the snow bending to my will, turning the flames to steam. But since I didn't know how to waterbend too well, one of the soldiers held a fire blade to my neck and stabbed my shoulder with his knife, twisting the blade until it made a half circle. I was screaming, the pain was too much, tears were sliding down my cheeks and I could feel the fire blade move closer and closer to my throat and it was burning right beside my ear-

"WAIT!" Aang's eyes widened in horror as the villagers cheers disappated and my cries of agony stopped slowly. He held out his staff with a serious expression and stared at Zuko who was gathering himself. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"

Zuko narrowed his eyes and looked from Aang to me, obviously contemplating the offer. Finally, he straightened his back and nodded sharply. I grit my teeth as the bloodied soldiers grabbed him and his staff, and I cried out as the soldier who stabbed me threw me to the ground. The feeling of power drained out of the wound I had gained, and that was that. The fight was over. Instead of feeling victory, I just felt burning in my shoulder, tears on my cheeks, a sore throat and lightheadedness and exhaustion beating me senseless.

"No!" Katara suddenly shouted as she rushed forward, her hand outstretched. "Aang, don't do this!"

"Don't worry, Katara." Aang said calmly. "It'll be okay." Chang shoved him onto the walkway and Aang forced his expression into one of reassurance when Katara looked at him with a frightened face. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back! And Genevieve-"

"Eva!" Zuko boomed, and I looked up from where I lay pathetically in the snow. "For your behavior, I'm abandoning you here! Now you're with your kind," he spat, and I glared.

"I never wanted to be on that ship with you!" I yelled, my voice cracking, and Zuko huffed in annoyance. "Set a course for the Fire Nation." Zuko growled as he entered the ship in front of the others. "I'm heading home."

"Don't you remember the message, Zuko?" I screamed, and Zuko stopped walking, listening, I assumed. "Black Widow was here to welcome me home!"

I could see Aang staring at me as the ramp slid shut, and I could see Heng Guo and An from the deck of the ship. They stared at me in disbelief.

I looked away.

"Who are you?" Sokka's shadow hung over me as the ship moved further away, and I groaned, sniffling.

"I'm Eva, I'm in pain and I just got stabbed and I have a burn on my neck," I spat. "I'm tired, and I'm hungry and I'm a Waterbender and I'm so fucking sick of everything!" I screamed the last part out, causing Sokka to flinch away in surprise as the pain in my shoulder continued to throb into my nervous system. I let out a strangled scream, holding onto my shoulder so tightly I thought the blood flow would be cut off, and Sokka's grandmother rushed forward.

"Come, child," the elderly woman pushed Sokka out of the way and picked me up gently, helping me walk to the huts as I shuddered from cold. "We must heal your shoulder and burn as best we can." As I limped, Katara rushed forward.

"That... That was amazing!" Katara exclaimed. "I've never seen anyone fight like that before!"

"Oh, please," Sokka muttered, following close behind me. "She's a girl. She can't fight."

I froze. Turning to him slowly, I watched his expression turn from disgusted to fear. "Excuse me," I hissed coldly. "A fourteen year old girl used you as a frickin' launching pad and you're calling me weak? Have you lost your mind?"

"Enough, child!" One of the other women scolded. "You'll cause yourself even more pain. Kanna, get your grandson under control."

"I'm the chief of this tribe!" Sokka yelped, obviously offended.

"Yeah, well you suck at it," I grumbled as I sloppily bent snow from the roof of the nearest hut, causing children to "ooh" and "aah" in awe.

"Wow," Katara said almost dreamily. "You're a Waterbender!"

Turning the snow into water with a quick jab I placed the cold liquid on my painfully hot shoulder and used my other hand to try and heal the burn on my neck, focusing my energy on healing them, rubbing both spots slowly and carefully as the water began to glow. "Well, I said I was one, didn't I?"

"Is there anything you can teach me? Do you know how to fight? When did you find out you were a Waterbender? How-" I was bombarded with so many questions my head spun, and Kanna moved to stop Katara. "That's enough, Katara!" She snapped, and Katara shrunk away. "Can't you see the poor girl is in enough pain already?"

"I only just found out I was one yesterday," I mumbled just loud enough for Katara and Kanna to hear. "I can't teach you jack, unfortunately, and no, I can't fight." I sighed. "I only know how to do this because I watched... someone... do it..."

Is it weird that the person I saw healing people is right in front of me? Like, in the flesh?

Maybe. Why am I shocked by anything anymore?

"Wow, your shoulder!" A little girl exclaimed. "It's almost fully healed!"

I looked down, and there was only a circular shaped scar on my shoulder. I removed the bloodied water and let it drop with a splat into the snow. I stared at the red circle on the ground and turned to walk away, before hearing the snow crunch behind me. I flipped around on my heel and saw Sokka wiping off his tribal face paint as he walked away. I grimaced up at Katara, before grinning weakly. "Let's do this again, hm?" I stuck out my free hand while still holding my shoulder.

"I'm Genevieve Cavenaugh. But you can call me Eva."

<><><>

"We have to go after that ship, Sokka." Katara said determinedly as she stood on the Southern shores, staring out at the endless sea. "Aang saved our tribe and Eva, and now we have to save him."

Does she realize her brother is packing a canoe? No? Okay.

"Katara, I-"

Katara cut him off, flailing her arms as she refused to turn around. "Why can't you realize that he's on our side? If we don't help them, no one else will! I know you don't like Aang, but we owe him!"

"Katara!" Sokka shouted annoyedly. "Are you gonna talk all day, or are you comin' with me?" I grinned as she turned towards him and he motioned towards the canoe floating in the water beside him. "Well?"

"Sokka!" Katara cried happily, "Thank you, thank you!" I smiled, but even to me, it felt strained. "Get in, the both of you," Sokka looked pointedly at us. "We're going to save Katara's boyfriend." At which point, Katara stopped grinning. "He's not my-"

"Whatever," Sokka shrugged. "Are we gonna go, or-"

"What do you two think you're doing?"

The two siblings jumped and turned around, looking at their grandmother with wide eyes as they tried to act innocent, but Kanna only smiled, and it was obvious she knew what was going on. "Eva," she motioned for me to come closer, and so I did. She handed me a heavy sleeping bag, which I struggled under the weight of, and her face became as hard and cold as stone. "These are things you will need for your journey. There is paste in here to stop the scarring on your shoulder, as well as other medicines to heal the remnants of bruises littering your body. Don't think I didn't see them, young lady, that battle was more than even I could handle." I looked down in almost shame, but I really did feel touched. This woman didn't even know me, yet she had given me warmer clothes to change out of (more like forced me to change or _so help me God_ I'd freeze), water tribe attire, and a water skin to carry with me. She had fed me, given me medicines for the bruises on my back and legs that might have smelled gross and hurt to apply at first but were doing their job and healing my body. She didn't even know me, yet she made it her job to help me. It had been a while since I had someone that took care of me. Well, of course Iroh did, but I meant a mother's touch, of sorts. And he's not much of a _motherly_ figure.

"And as for you two, you will need these as well," she held out two more sleeping bags to the siblings, and I muttered to Sokka, "How does she carry all this crap?"

He glared at me. Well. Someone's touchy.

"You have a long journey ahead of you," Kanna was saying with a soft smile on her face. "It's been so long since I had hope." Kanna moved closer to Sokka and Katara. She handed the bedrolls to Katara and hugged her tightly. "But you brought it back to life, my little Waterbender." Sokka and I smiled warmly.

Kanna released her before turning to look at Sokka with the same fond smile as she hugged him as well. "And you, my brave warrior-" Sokka chippered up at this instantly, and I rolled my eyes. "-be nice to your sister."

"Yeah, okay, Gran..." Sokka said with fake exasperation before letting her go with a bright smile. Kanna looked at Katara and Sokka seriously this time, without any hint of laughter or unpleasantness in her voice. "Aang is the Avatar. He's the world's only chance, and you both found him for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with his. And with hers." They all turned to me, and I gripped the blue fabric of the sleeping roll in anxiousness as my stomach flopped. "You, young one... I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but it is clear to me you are not our enemy."

"I'm not," I found myself saying. "I'm not, I'm really not."

"Yet I feel as if I know you... From a dream I had, once."

"A dream, huh?" I whispered, looking up at her. "Did your dream mention anything about... About someone named Black Widow? Did you see a spider? Anything doused in red, or black? Anything like that?" My voice wasn't thick, but more taut, and Katara and Sokka looked at me strangely. Kanna shook her head. "No, I did not. I'm sorry. But your destiny is intertwined with not only Katara, Sokka's and the Avatar's... But perhaps with the people you met on your way here."

I groaned.

Kanna looked at the canoe and tutted as Katara stated drily, "There is no way we're going to catch a warship with a canoe."

"I'll say," I responded. "But hey..." I pointed up at the mountain of snow at Appa, who was lumbering up the hill. The three native members of the Water Tribe stared up in amazement as the sky bison roared. "Appa!" Katara exclaimed as she ran forward.

"You just loove takin' me out of my comfort zone, don't you?" Sokka grumbled. I dashed forward, tugging Sokka along as he yelped. "Thank you, Kanna!" I shouted over my shoulder. "For everything. I have a feeling you'll see all of us again real soon!"

<><><>

"Wow," I muttered. "This is not what I expected when you told me he was a flying bison, Katara."

"He is!" Katara insisted. "He just..."

"Hasn't flown?" Sokka mocked. "Look, Katara, maybe he just doesn't fly. Maybe that's the end of it."

"Hey, pessimistic much?" I elbowed Sokka, and he glared at me. "Go," he said emotionlessly as I giggled. "Fly. Soar."

Katara glared at him over her shoulder as she tried to console the sky bison. "Please, Appa," she begged. "We need your help. Aang needs your help." Appa gave a low grunt at Aang's name, which sent vibrations through his awfully large spine and up mine through his saddle, causing me to shiver. "Up," Sokka continued. "Ascend."

"How about this?" I quickly intervened before Katara did anything else to try to make Appa fly. "Maybe Aang used a command that only sky bison were trained to obey when they had to fly. Did either of you think of that?"

No answer.

"I am surrounded by idiots," I groaned.

"What was it that kid said?" Sokka said again. "Yee-haw? Hup-hup? Waa-hoo? Uh... Yip-yip?"

Well, that did the trick, to say the least.

Appa let out a low rumble and flicked his tail up and down until he launched himself forward like we were on some damn airplane. Sokka was screaming ecstatically, "He's flying! He's flying!" While Katara gave him amused smirks. As for me?

You bet I was screaming like hell. I mean, I had been on airplanes before, and yeah, my ears were popping a little bit and it was kind of cool to be so high up, but on airplanes, you're protected. By metal. At literally all angles. And even though a plane was basically a metal death trap, I was on an animal. A fictional animal, for Christ's sake. I was clutching the saddle and trying not to look down at the ocean for fear that I would someone fall to my death and die for real this time. Sokka was finished fangirling and stared at me with wide eyes and his eyes were rolling while Katara was trying to calm me down before I lay down on the saddle and just took big, deep breaths to stop the panic flowing through my system.

"Why are you screaming? What's the big deal?" Sokka was mocking me, and I glared at him.

"He's flying! He's flying! Katara, look, he's flying!" I yelled in a high pitched voice to match Sokka's girlish screams from before. "Oh, look who's talking, Mr. Experience! Like you've ever been up in the air, unprotected, with no _seat belts-!_ "

"Calm down!" Katara soothed. "I'm sure Appa's not going to let you fall. Right Appa?"

Appa grumbled in agreement as Sokka muttered, "I wish he would."

I hit him twice with my fist, and he yelped. "I'm going to throw you off the saddle before we even reach Zuko's ship! I swear to God, Sokka! I'm not lying!"

"No one is throwing anyone off of Appa!" Katara scolded us and rubbed her temples exasperatedly before sighing.

So I'm like a three year old. Big deal.

<><><>

It had been forty minutes. Forty. Minutes.

Ugh. Waiting was boring.

"There it is!" Sokka suddenly pointed to the massive Fire Nation warship, making my snap my head up in both dread and excitement. "Left, Appa, left!"

The sky bison let out a low grumble and veered to the left. I could see Aang and Zuko fighting on the deck, and I clenched my jaw, taking a deep breath. Katara, Sokka and I watched as Aang deflected one of Zuko's blasts with his staff, but also ended up propelling himself backwards towards the very edge of the deck, nearly falling over backwards. My heart beat faster in anxiety- Katara gasped, and Sokka gripped the saddle so hard his knuckles turned white. The three of us watched as Aang continued to deflect fire blasts, but lost his staff in the process. I leaned over the saddle, watching in horror as Zuko mercilessly attacked him, forcing Aang to fall backwards over the ship's railings and into the cold sea below.

"Aang!" A scream echoed from next to me, and I turned to see Katara gripping Appa's reins frantically. "No!"

Sokka was pale, and I whipped around to scream at Zuko. "You piece of shit!" I shouted at him, and I could make out his sneer. "What have you done?"

Before he could answer, I spotted a flash of blue and grey light emitting from the sea, before a vortex of water carrying Aang - who was in the Avatar state, by the way - landed onto the ship's deck, swirling the water around him in a protective circle. He whipped it towards Zuko and his men, sending them flying over the deck and into the unforgiving icy water below. "Did you see what he just _did_?" Katara's voice had gotten very high, and Sokka laughed. "Now _that_ was some waterbending!"

"Forget the waterbending!" I scolded. "Look! He's going to collapse!"

And sure enough, he did. We landed on the deck, and Katara leapt down from Appa's head, Sokka and I sliding down after her. "Aang! Are you okay?" She fussed, picking up his arms while Sokka knelt beside them.

"Hey Katara," he said weakly. "Hey Sokka. Thanks for coming."

Sokka grinned. "Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory."

Aang looked up at me. "Hey, Eva."

I was surprised he remembered my name, but I smiled at him nonetheless. "Hey, what's up?" I stared at Katara. "Let's go. Or they'll take us, too."

Aang looked at the edge of the deck, where his staff lay. "I dropped my staff." A bag lay, strewn carelessly next to it. "There was a bag there, too. I don't know-" I gasped. "My backpack! You found my backpack!"

"I'll get the staff!" Sokka got up and ran to the edge, and I ran after him, picking up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder. As he was picking up the wooden stick, a pale hand grasped onto it- Zuko.

Sokka gasped and I shrieked, letting out a string of curses as my heart pounded, my hand clenching tighter around the backpack strap. The two of them struggled for the staff, but as Zuko attempted to climb back up, Sokka poked him in the head. That was enough to get him off the deck's edge, but not into the water.

"Ha!" Sokka cheered. "That's from the Water Tribe!" I looked down at Zuko as Sokka ran off. He glared at me, and I smirked, cocking my hip.

"Well, it looks like I'm not the only helpless little bitch around here," I commented casually. "Catch ya later."

I ran off to where Aang waited on Appa. As I ran, I looked up to the commander's deck- Iroh stood there, a solemn expression on his face. _'I'm sorry, Iroh,'_ I thought. _'You're a good man, a wise one. But I need to get home.'_

As I reached the sky bison, I noticed the men were getting up, but Katara was rising up to the challenge, already bending leftover seawater from the floor. Sokka was not too far away from me, and as Katara attempted to freeze the men in ice, she sent the water the wrong way. I groaned as Sokka yelped, "Katara!"

"Move!" I pushed her out of the way as one of the men threw a spear. Sokka ducked as it whizzed over his head, and smashed his feet free of the ice as I raised my hand and thrust it out, exhaling as I did so. The soldiers feet were in place, but only their feet. I groaned, giving Katara a pointed, but panicked look. "Now freeze them! Now, Katara!" I screeched, and skidded over to Appa and quickly climbed on, clinging onto his soft fur.

"Hah!" Katara sent the water flying behind her, and looked at her doing in amazement- the men were all frozen and groaning, attempting to break free.

"Hurry up Sokka!" Katara screamed at her brother as he cut his feet from the ice with his boomerang, muttering, "I'm just a guy with a boomerang, I didn't ask for all this flying and magic-!"

"Well you got it anyway!" I yelped. "All right, let's go, go, go!"

"Yip-yip!" He shouted, ignoring me, clamoring onto Appa's tail. "Yip-yip!"

Appa rumbled, and, smacking his tail, propelled us up into the air. I laughed again, falling back into Appa's saddle and onto one of Sokka's knees as my backpack landed on the other. He groaned. "Get off!"

"Shoot them down!" I heard from afar.

" _What?_ " I screamed, shooting up and leaning over the saddle. Sure enough, Zuko had gotten back onto the deck and was glaring up at us. But this time, Iroh was helping him- the two of them moved as one, sending a massive fireball our way. Just as I was about to brace myself for death, Aang leapt up from Appa's head and angrily swung his staff, causing the fireball to move off target, and instead hurtled towards the walls of ice. My eyes widened as an explosion shook the sky, and chunks of snow and ice rained down on the ship. While the others laughed triumphantly, I stared at the sea. I was leaving, traveling an unknown world now. And even though I found the Avatar, I wasn't any closer to getting myself home.

I sighed. Sitting back down onto Appa's saddle, I lay on my back and gazed up at the sky. "Well, the skies haven't changed," I mumbled.

"Eva?" Katara's voice was small, and I hummed in response.

"Where did you learn to fight like that? Back in the village?"

I clenched my eyes shut. "I don't know." I could feel their tension and doubt. "I just felt... Powerful, somehow. Like no one and nothing could stop me." I opened my eyes again, turning my head to look at their faces. They were confused, though Sokka's was filled with more doubt than anything else. "Like something was controlling me."

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation?" He challenged.

I looked back up at the sky. "Believe what you like. But if I was really from the Fire Nation, wouldn't I have supported them during that battle just now?"

"Forget about her being Fire Nation, Sokka," Katara sighed. "I just want to know how she learned to fight like that, and if she can teach me."

"I can't teach you anything, I'm telling you," I insisted. "I don't know where any of that came from."

Katara sighed and looked at Aang, who rested lazily on Appa's head. "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"

"Because..." Aang said sadly. "I never wanted to be."

I looked out at the setting sun and realized, _'This might be harder than I thought.'_


End file.
